November 18, 2009

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It's Wednesday. "I saw the Pulse and it opened up my eyes." (h/t: Chris Vieson)

REID'S UNVEILING: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is set to unveil his health care reform bill to Democratic senators during a special caucus meeting at 5 p.m. In the morning, Reid will get some administration muscle from Vice President Joe Biden, Interior Secretary and former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, all of whom have been tasked by President Obama with helping Reid lock down "yes" votes. Reid said he is "cautiously optimistic" he can secure the 60 votes he needs to move forward on the bill by this weekend. Reid's bill is expected to include a national government insurance plan with a provision for states to opt out. Reid is also expected to adjust a 40 percent excise tax on high-value insurance plans by raising the threshold at which insurers would pay the fee. He's expected to make up for that lost revenue by proposing an expansion of the Medicare payroll tax. And with the president's year-end deadline looming, congressional Democrats know they'll almost certainly have to short-circuit the legislative process to get the bill done in time. The most talked about method is end running the formal conference committee process in favor of some sort of mini-conference. Democratic officials in the White House and Congress are envisioning an end game similar to the way the $787 billion stimulus package came together with congressional leaders and White House aides hashing out the differences behind closed doors. (With Carrie Budoff Brown and Carol Lee)

--AARP is out with a new spot that will run on national cable until at least early December. The ad highlights the people from all walks of life that are feeling abandoned by the current health care system. Watch it here.

--PROGRESSIVES are hitting back against the Chamber and 60 Plus Association ads targeting 12 Democrats and one Republican who supported health reform. Americans United for Change, AFSCME and SEIU are teaming up for $1.75 million worth of counter-messaging in the districts of Reps. Berry, Cao, Connolly, Donnelly, Ellsworth, Hill, Hodes, Michaud, Murphy, Perriello, Pomeroy, Snyder and Titus. The AUC and AFSCME ads go up in eight districts today. The two groups are expected to spend up to $750,000 for a week of broadcast and cable air time. SEIU is expected to buy into the action with $1 million. Watch the Ellsworth ad.

--THE CHAMBER has spent $1.6 million in nine of those districts, POLITICO's Glenn Thrush reports: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent at least $1.6 million in the last ten days targeting nine House battleground Democrats who voted for the passage of the health reform package, according to a list of ad buys obtained by POLITICO." The list of how much was spent where is here.

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CONFIDENTIAL MCKINSEY REPORT ANALYZES REFORM - TNR's Jonathan Cohn has the goods: "The medical-care industry would need to make significant, and socially beneficial, changes in response to the bills currently moving through Congress; but such changes won't come remotely close to destroying the industry's profitability. Of course, reports on health care come out all the time. But this one deserves special attention--because it was prepared by the nation's most famous consulting firm and was never meant to see the light of day. ... McKinsey seems convinced that this entire package of reforms will influence behavior. Over and over again, it tells Client X that the world is changing. Hospitals, McKinsey says, will face 'increased requirements to coordinate care across system/care continuum,' 'significantly more value-conscious consumer decision-making,' and 'intensified focus on performance measurement and improvement.' It has even starker warnings for the drug industry: 'Big Pharma faces the largest potential revenue risk,' the document predicts. Partly that's because of existing trends in the drug industry. But it's also because studies of comparative effectiveness are sure to reduce the sale of drugs that don't work as well. McKinsey suggests that the drug industry can survive and even thrive in this environment 'by focusing on 'productive' innovation (supported by strong evidence), collaborating with payors and providers in new ways, and revamping commercial and R&D models to significantly improve effectiveness and efficiency.'" Document

SENATE BILL'S CBO SCORE - WaPo's Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery: "Preliminary estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the legislation's official scorekeeper, have indicated that the Senate measure would cost far less than the bill the House approved last week, while lowering the federal deficit further over the long term, said several senior Democratic aides who have reviewed the CBO data."

LONG TERM CARE IN - WSJ's Janet Adamy and Greg Hitt: "The Senate's sweeping health bill is expected to call for a new long-term-care insurance program as Democrats move closer to unveiling the legislation. . People familiar with the legislation said Tuesday that it would include the long-term-care program, which would pay cash to people if they become disabled. The late Sen. Edward Kennedy pushed to include the provision in the health bill that passed through the Senate health committee, and the House included a similar provision in its bill. Employees would have a choice of whether to participate in the long-term-care program, and those who did would have premiums deducted from paychecks."

THREE HOLDOUTS REMAIN -- NYT's Carl Hulse: "Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, says he is not sure he is ready to help a Democratic health care proposal clear even the most preliminary hurdle: gaining the 60 votes his party's leaders need to open debate on the measure later this week. Two of his fellow Democrats, Senators Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, are proving tough sells as well, raising the prospect that one or perhaps all three of them could scuttle the bill before the fight over it even begins on the Senate floor. . Typically routine, the procedural approval needed to begin consideration of a bill looms as anything but routine in this instance. Instead, the vote is fast becoming a test of the leadership abilities of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader. It will also decide at least the near-term prospects of President Obama's top domestic priority. And it is providing a case study of the Democrats' difficulties in managing high expectations fueled by large congressional majorities."

W.H. PUSHES BACK AGAINST REFORM CRITICS AND FOX NEWS - On the White House blog, spokesman Dan Pfeiffer pushes back against critics who are questioning whether a government task force's recommendations that only women over 50 need routine mammograms amounts to health care rationing. Pfeiffer writes: "One of the hallmark tactics from opponents of health insurance reform has been to grab onto any convenient piece of information and twist it into some misguided attack on reform, no matter how unrelated it may actually be. . Today they're going back to that playbook again, and Fox News obliges them with the headline 'Critics See Health Care Rationing Behind New Mammography Recommendations.'" W.H. blog post.

NOT THE FIRST TIME MAMMOGRAMS SPARKED CONTROVERSY -- WaPo's Dan Eggen and Rob Stein: "In 1997, a federal committee of medical experts recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, sparking a political uproar that led to congressional hearings and a unanimous Senate vote challenging the findings. Now, 12 years later, a similar drama is playing out around a different federal medical panel, which this week recommended against routine mammograms for women younger than 50, saying it is not worth subjecting some patients to unnecessary biopsies, radiation and stress."

SERIOUSLY? -- "Hoyer, Reid aim for Dec. 18 close" -- POLITICO's Jake Sherman: "Senate and House leaders are hoping to close up shop for the year by Dec. 18, even though neither chamber has figured out the end game for health care reform and must-pass appropriations bills. And that doesn't even take into account a sudden push by House Democrats to start work on some sort of 'jobs' legislation. Nonetheless, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are 'focused on December 18' as a last day for this session of Congress."

DEMS FAMILY FEUD -- POLITICO's Glenn Thrush: "House passage of a sweeping anti-abortion amendment has set off a wave of soul-searching and finger-pointing among abortion rights activists - many of whom thought they'd found a safe harbor when Democrats won the White House and big majorities in Congress last year. . Some liberals are in an angry mood, blaming Stupak - and the Catholic bishops who backed his cause - for squeezing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as she tried to shore up support for her ambitious, imperiled health care reform package. . But many in the abortion rights community - which has been divided by tactical disagreements over the years - also recognize they were outmaneuvered by adversaries who understood the basic anti-abortion arithmetic of abortion votes in the House."

STUPAK SAYS HE HAS VOTES TO KILL REFORM -- The Hill's Eric Zimmermann: "Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) pledged on Tuesday morning to defeat healthcare reform legislation if his abortion amendment is taken out, saying 10 to 20 anti-abortion-rights Democrats would vote against a bill with weaker language. 'They're not going to take it out,' Stupak said on 'Fox and Friends,' referring to Senate Democrats. 'If they do, healthcare will not move forward.'"

GIANT TURKEY ALERT -- Patients First, a project of Americans for Prosperity, will be on Capitol Hill this morning alongside a six-foot talking turkey to demonstrate against what they call the "government takeover" of America's health care system, according to a release. Butterball is encouraging voters to call their lawmakers and oppose reform. Patients First is one of several conservative groups calling on its members to flood Capitol Hill between noon and 3 p.m. today with phone calls and e-mails. The Web site.

DASCHLE SWITCHING FIRMS -- NYT's Jackie Calmes: "Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader and confidant to President Obama who would have been his health secretary but for a tax controversy, is jumping from one law firm, Alston & Bird, to a bigger one with global reach, DLA Piper, to play a larger role in international issues."

PULSE OP-ED:

--NYT EDITORIAL: "The drug industry has been ramping up its prices in advance of any health care reforms that might clamp down on its profits. The industry's rapid price escalation over the past year threatens to make a mockery of its deal with the Senate Finance Committee and the Obama administration to contribute $80 billion over the next decade to help pay for covering tens of millions of uninsured Americans. . The government needs every penny it can get to help cover the uninsured. Given the industry's last-minute price increases, it seems prudent to ignore the supposed deal and demand a greater contribution."

--WSJ EDITORIAL: "What passes for a joke on Capitol Hill these days is that Bernie Madoff, given his experience managing Ponzi schemes, should be put in charge of the federal budget. Nancy Pelosi & Co. seem to have taken it as a serious suggestion. Any day now, the House is expected to vote on a $210 billion fiscal swindle that will prevent automatic cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. . Senate Democrats already scotched the two-bill approach earlier this month, which is itself a good indication of how reckless Mrs. Pelosi's gambit is. Even Madoff might blush."

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McKinsey is well known for starting with a predetermined result and shaping analysis around that predetermined result. Who decides that predetermined result...the sponsor of the study of course (the CEO, board, the man holding the bag of cash...). What a joke. Who sponsored the study?

That is just wonderful. The Democrats are planning on fast tracking healthcare which affects 1/6th of our economy just so Obama can parade it out at his State of the Union address. What is wrong with these people? People want reform but the overwheming majority oppose the current bill yet the Democrats don't care. They are fixated on passing this monstrocity regardless of what everyone thinks. I just hope they don't do any more damage until they are voted out in 2010. I voted for Obama believing his campaign speeches that he would govern from the middle, boy did I make a mistake!

Lets see: Women under 50, Seniors over 65, Young folks, Small businesses, the Middle Class, and the ECONOMY will all be SCREWED if Obama/Pelosi/Reid get their Health Care Reform Bill passed. Women under 50 will be denied life saving mammograms via the government run rationing board who cares more about “cost effectiveness“ than saving peoples lives. Senior over 65 will have their Medicare cut by 500 billion which will result in devastating cuts to their services. Young folks will be FORCED to buy health insurance they can't afford at twice the cost it would be prior to government run Health Care Reform. Small businesses will be FORCED to pay for health care insurance they can't afford which will mean more layoffs. The Middle Class Health Care Insurance Premiums will all go up by 50% according to some studies. The US economy will collapse as taxes and deficit spending skyrockets as a result of all the big government spending programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and on top of that the biggest spending program of all, government run health care, all go bankrupt.